New York City again tops bedbug charts, exterminator company says

Thursday

NEW YORK -- For the second consecutive year, exterminator company Terminix ranked New York City first in the nation for bedbug infestations, edging out Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago and Philadelphia.

Terminix's city rankings are based on the number of customer complaints and infestations discovered by employees of the company's 350 US branches. The company would not release specific data on just how many bedbug complaints it gets, but it said the problem is multiplying.

Bob Young, an entomologist and Northeast and Midwest division manager for Terminix, estimated that he has logged two to three times more bedbug calls over last year, following high-profile cases in which bedbug invasions forced several Manhattan businesses to close temporarily.

Young, who has been with Terminix for 15 years, said he started seeing the critters hit New York in the early 2000s. Since then, complaints have risen ten- to fifteenfold, he said, as the public becomes more aware of their presence.

Last year, bedbugs shut down the flagship Niketown store on East 57th Street, the Hollister Epic store in SoHo and a Victoria's Secret on the Upper East Side, among other locations. And the insects made a debut at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Young said that this year, the bugs have even been found in police department squad cars.

In better news for New Yorkers, a rival ranking by Terminix's competitor Orkin ranked the city only the seventh-worst for bedbug cases.